Reckless Past
by wittleblonde42
Summary: Tris promised she wouldn't tell anyone and that it was his decision if he wanted to be involved at all. "I can't be a dad," Four says, mostly to himself. "No one is asking you to be one. We've already had this conversation, remember?" *AU*
1. Reunion

Tris looks around the table at her family. Her parents sit next to each other like they always have and Caleb is across from her, Susan at his side. Christina is on her left and Rory sits at her right. In front of Rory is a batman cake, his current obsession, with a total of five candles on it. He bites his lip and stares at the cake, his dark blue eyes wide with excitement.

"Blow out your candles," Natalie smiles at the little boy.

"Don't forget to make a wish though," Caleb grins.

"What do I wish for?" Rory asks seriously, his left eyebrow raising.

"Whatever you want," Christina ruffles Rory's messy blonde fohawk.

"I don't want anything."

"There has to be something you wanna wish for," Tris puts her elbow on the table and rests her cheek against her wrist, her eyes focused on the child.

"Nope," he gazes at her then looks back at his cake.

"Make a wish punk," Christina shoves him lightly, "We already sang to you so you have to make a wish, it's the rule."

"I don't like that rule," Rory frowns at her.

"Well it's the rule so make that wish already. It can be anything, you can wish for rain if you want."

"I want snow," he smirks and blows out the candles.

"You're not supposed to tell us your wish, silly," Andrew chuckles.

"Why?" Rory snaps his head in Andrew's direction, completely confused.

"It won't come true."

"Why?"

"He's just pulling your leg," Caleb says.

"He's not pulling my leg, he's all the way over there," Rory points at Andrew, "He can't touch my leg from there."

"Uncle means that Papa is just kidding," Tris reassures Rory that his wish wasn't wasted cause he said it out loud.

"So it'll come true?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"Cause I don't get to choose which wishes come true and which ones don't."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Cause why?"

"Cause I said so."

"Why do you say so?"

"Rory Alexander," Tris warns.

"Fine," he rolls his eyes.

"Want me to cut that cake now?" Natalie stands up from the table.

"Please," Rory says without a smile.

"Want to help?"

"Um, I think yes," Rory says and gets off of his chair to follow Natalie into the kitchen.

"He's so weird," Christina whispers to Tris, "Is his dad weird?"

"I thought you dropped that conversation years ago, Chris," Tris says in a hushed voice, making sure none of her family members can hear her current conversation.

"You know I'm always going to be curious."

"And you know I'm never gonna give you any information."

"Has he ever asked you about him?"

"Once or twice."

"What'd you tell him?"

"That he isn't around and it was his choice."

"He took that answer?"

"He asked why numerous times, but then he dropped it."

"Oh," Christina says and watches as Natalie and Rory come back to the table with plates of cake. Rory hands a slice of cake to Susan then goes back into the kitchen to grab another piece. He passes out a few plates before he finally sits down at the table with his own. Christina catches him smile to himself, just a tiny smile and it makes her grin. Since he was a little guy he's never been much of a smiler, he only smiles when he's actually happy. A smile is never fake when it's on the face of Rory.

Christina and Tris have been friends since they were kids; they've always been inseparable. At one point Christina was sure she knew everything about her best friend. Then Tris told her she was pregnant. Tris had never mentioned any guy to Christina before; she kept everything hidden from her. Everyone pried to find out who the dad was, but Tris wouldn't say anything about it. Eventually Tris' family came to terms with the fact that they weren't ever going to receive any information on Rory's dad. Christina, however, is still searching for answers.

Tris looks over at her son and smiles; never in a million years did she imagine she'd be the mother of such an interesting little human. When she found out about him she was more than terrified, but she wasn't exactly shocked. She knew what she was doing and she knew the consequences she may have to face. At sixteen she didn't plan on being pregnant. Rory was a mistake, but he's the best mistake she's ever made.

The day Christina found out about the baby she took over the roll of being the other parent. She went to every doctor's appointment with Tris and pretty much moved into the Prior household a month into Tris' pregnancy. Christina was the one holding Tris' hair when she was throwing up and the one running to the store for strange cravings. Rory is practically Christina's baby; she's been there since day one.

Everyone finishes eating and Rory yawns before putting his arms on the table and placing his head in them. His big blue eyes close and Tris can see his long dark eyelashes rest against his lightly freckled cheeks.

"I think it's time for bed," Tris runs a hand through Rory's hair.

"He can sleep here, honey," Natalie warmly smiles at her daughter than looks over at her grandson. "It's Friday night why don't you girls go out and have some fun?"

"I'm not much of the fun type, I'm a mom," Tris grins.

"Oh come on Tris, it'll be fun. Mom is offering to babysit for us," Christina smiles.

"You sure you don't mind?" Tris looks over at her parents.

"Of course not. He's always perfect."

"I'll bring him up to my room, kay?"

"I'll meet you back here," Christina points to the table.

Tris gets up from her chair and picks up Rory, it takes her a second to get him situated. She swears he's getting heavier every day. She starts to walk to her old room, Rory draped over her shoulder. When she gets in the room she lays him on the bed and he rolls over on his side, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. Tris lays down on the bed next to him and looks at his size compared to her own. It won't be long before he outgrows her; he's already a little over half her length. She frowns; once he outgrows her she won't be able to throw him around anymore.

"Why does your dad have to be a giant," she whispers to herself as she looks over her baby.

"Mommy?" Rory asks, his tiny voice filled with sleep.

"I'm here."

"I'm tired."

"I know. You're gonna sleep at Nana and Papa's. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay," she smiles, "Did you have a good birthday?"

"Yes."

"And maybe you'll get your wish."

"Snow?"

"That's what you want right?"

"Yeah and something else."

"What is that something else?"

"I want to see Dad. I just wanna see him," Rory's eyes flutter open then close again.

"Maybe one day."

"Yeah?"

"Who knows? It could happen. Now get some sleep," she kisses him on the temple.

"Luh you," he mumbles.

"Luh you too."

Tris lays there next to Rory for a few more minutes, not wanting to leave him. She eventually gets up and goes back to the dining room. Christina and Tris say their goodbyes before going outside to Christina's car.

"So what's the plan tonight baby daddy?" Tris asks as she hops into the passenger seat of the car.

"Kickback at Marlene's."

"Sounds like a good night to me."

"Of course it does, you're a boring baby mama."

"I'm not boring."

"Most boring person I know."

"Then why do you keep me around?"

"Cause you're my baby mama and there is no way I'm leaving our child alone with you."

"Shut up, douche," Tris chuckles.

The girls walk into Shauna's house and see a few familiar faces in the small sea of unfamiliar ones. Cristina pulls Tris through the house until they find Marlene wrapped around Uriah as usual. Uriah is in a heated debate with Zeke and Four stands off to the side.

"Well hello ladies," Marlene slurs.

"Hey drunkels," Christina laughs and Marlene hugs her.

"Baby momma is out to get wasted!" Marlene yells when she sees Tris next to Christina.

The title baby momma makes Four go rigid and he suddenly finds himself extremely interested in Zeke and Uriah's debate.

"Not get wasted," Tris smirks, "Have a couple of drinks yes. I do have a child I gotta get back to in the morning."

"Who's babysitting?" Marlene leans on Tris.

"My parents. Honestly I feel kind of guilty about it though, it's his birthday and I'm here."

"It's already eleven. I'm sure he's sleeping."

"He is, I put him to bed."

"So don't feel bad. Mommy shall play when Rory is sleeping."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna get a drink."

Tris walks through the boys and to the counter, she grabs a red cup and searches for cherry coke. After she fills her cup up halfway with cherry coke she looks around for the Captain Morgan. Suddenly the Captain is in front of her face and being poured into her cup.

"When," she says and the person stops pouring it.

"Don't you want more?" Zeke asks with a grin, Captain in his hand.

"I'm not trying to get wasted."

"Aw, why not? You can crash here, it's not like Marlene ever cares."

"I know, I know."

"Come here, I want to introduce you to my friend," Zeke grabs her hand and pulls her towards Four and Uriah.

"Why?"

"Gotta get out on the playing field again," he whispers in her ear before grinning and saying, "Four this is Tris, Tris this is my partner Four."

"Nice to meet you, Four," Tris says the nickname feels odd in her mouth.

"You too, Tris," he keeps a straight face and nods.

"Well, I'm going to go back over to Christina," Tris smiles.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast young lady," Zeke grabs her arm.

"What?"

"You're gonna hang out with us for at least a half an hour before I let you go. You're my hostage now."

"I'm a hostage?"

"Yes, don't try to run. I will take you down."

"You'll take down a little girl?" Tris frowns.

"You may be little, but I know you better that that. Don't give me that little girl bullshit."

"Fine, a half an hour. Then I gotta go back, okay?"

"Yup," Zeke smiles, "Sounds good, right Four?"

"Sure," Four shrugs.

"Now tell Tris a little about yourself."

"Not much to tell."

"Don't lie, tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"What you do for a living, stuff like that."

"I'm going to assume he's a police officer with you considering you called him your partner," Tris raises an eyebrow and Four smirks at her remark.

"Shush Tris" Zeke scolds, "He has to tell you about himself."

"Why?"

"Cause."

"Why?"

"Cause I said so," Zeke rolls his eyes.

"Why do you say so?" Tris grins.

"So that's where Rory gets it," Zeke glares at her.

"Possibly."

"Rory?" Four asks, his eyes meeting Tris' for the first time since she came in.

"Yeah," Tris nods, "My son. He's uh, he turned five today."

"What's he like?" Four asks, trying not to sound eager for the information.

"Coolest kid I know, you'd like him."

"She's lying, he's a brat," Zeke says which earns him a glare from Tris as well as Four. Only Four's glare doesn't last long enough for anyone to catch it.

"He's not a brat," Tris crosses her arms over her chest.

"He's a punk. A total smartass and somehow intimidating. You'd never think a five-year-old could be intimidating but that kid. All he has to do is look at you a certain way. And he never smiles."

"He smiles, only when he is genuinely happy."

"He barely smiles," Zeke says and looks over at Four, "He's kind of like you. Similar attitude."

"You'd like him," Tris says and Four nods.

Around midnight everyone seems to be winding down. Tris gets up from the couch she's sitting on to toss her cup. Christina is off somewhere with Marlene. After throwing away the cup she goes outside to get some fresh air. She goes out onto the back porch and sees Four sitting on a step by himself. He hears the back door open and turns around to see her turn around to go back inside.

"You don't have to go inside," he says to her.

"Is this weird? Like us being cool with each other?"

"It's only weird if you make it weird."

"I guess," she says and goes to take a seat next to him.

"It's a little weird," he says and glances at her.

"That's what I was thinking."

"They all have no idea."

"Not a clue."

"Guess it means we were just as sneaky as we thought we were."

"We were pros at sneaking around."

"Yeah, until it happened."

"Yeah that ruined my sneaking around days, yours… not so much."

"You've never told anyone? Not even Christina?"

"No one. Only you and I know."

Four looks over at Tris for a second and shakes his head. When the two of them first met he didn't think things would turn out this way. Marcus had taken him along to the Prior household when he was seventeen. He met Tris and the two of them barely talked, but there was something that drew him to her. Somehow the two started hanging out in secret and then she was sneaking in and out of his house when Marcus wasn't home. He told Tris about Marcus one day and she didn't treat him like a hurt puppy. She was the first person he trusted.

Then she found out she was pregnant. She came over that day and wasn't herself, she was quiet. When she told him he practically had a panic attack. His dad would be furious with him. Tris promised she wouldn't tell anyone and that it was his decision if he wanted to be involved at all.

"I can't be a dad," Four says, mostly to himself.

"No one is asking you to be one. We've already had this conversation, remember?"

"I know, it's just that…it's always in the back of my mind. That I've got a kid out there and I know nothing about him. Tonight is the most information I've ever heard about him. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about him, but I'm not meant to be a dad. I was never meant to be one."

"If that's what you believe then that's how it's going to be. I know Marcus isn't father of the year, he's far from it, but I don't know. I don't think it means you're like him."

"He's the only example of a father I've ever seen. It's all I know and I'm not going to let a kid grow up like I did. I was a young, dumb kid and I got you pregnant."

"Actually I do believe I deserve half of the blame for that, I was even younger and just as dumb and I got myself pregnant."

"Takes two to tango, huh?"

"Something like that," Tris grins, "Honestly I wouldn't trade him for the world."

"Really?"

"He's awesome," she smiles, "You'd like him."

"Yeah, probably."

The two sit there in silence and Four remembers how comfortable silence is when it's shared with Tris. He doesn't fill like he needs to fill the silence; he can just let it be. He's always wondered what Tris grew up like since the two stopped talking. He's wondered more about Rory, but never asked for any information about him. Marcus told him that Tris had gotten pregnant and he also told him when she had the baby. All he's ever known about the baby is that it's a boy and his name is Rory. Andrew never told Marcus much more about it, so that's all Four ever knew. His stomach turns at the thought of Marcus knowing more about Rory than he does. He knows for a fact that Marcus still works with Andrew and that he's been around Rory multiple times.

The thought of Marcus being in Rory's life and not himself makes his blood boil. Even though he chose to not be in Rory's life. He made the decision when he was eighteen, the day Tris told him and he has stood by that decision since. Rory doesn't need him and he's not going to be the person to mess up the kid's life. It wouldn't be fair.

* * *

_I know I have like a bunch of stories going on. But I wanted to write this. I don't know where I'm going with it or anything like that. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna continue with it. _


	2. Touch Up

"I'm completely beat," Zeke yawns as he leaves the building, Four at his side.

"Today was longer than normal," Four says as he scans the parking lot for his bronco, momentarily forgetting where he parked it.

"So, what'd you think of my friend Tris?" Zeke wiggles his eyebrows, "I know you two were outside talking for a while."

"She's cool."

"Just cool?"

"Yeah, she's cool."

"She's single, has been for years. Sure, she has a kid, but she's a good chick. And she's a good mom."

"Yeah, I don't know." Four always knew Tris would be a good mom; there was never a doubt in his mind about it. She takes care of people, it's in her nature.

"Come on, you haven't dated since what? Lauren?"

"Yeah, since Lauren."

"I'm not saying you need to jump into anything serious, but maybe it'd be good for you to put yourself out there a little bit."

"I don't know, man. I don't feel like dating."

"You just want to hook up?"

"Nothing wrong with hooking up, if I do recall you hooked up more than the average male before you met Shauna."

"I'm a changed man now."

"I know, I'm just saying don't knock hook ups."

"I'm not."

"What're you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, I was going to sit on my ass, watch reruns of Mad Men and drink beer."

"That sounds like a party."

"What're you doing?"

"I was thinking about getting some tattoos touched up, I haven't done it yet and they're starting to look like shit."

"I know of a really good shop."

"Where?"

"Like two miles from here, I'll go with you. Come on," Zeke waves Four over to his challenger.

The guys get into the car and Zeke turns the engine over. Neither says much on the drive over. Four watches out the window to figure out where he is.

Zeke was the first person Four met on the force and he was the first person Four trusted. When Four came back from Afghanistan a year ago he secluded himself from everyone. Somehow Zeke was able to pull him out of his shell and now he feels more like himself than he did when he came back.

Sure enough about two miles away from the station is a tattoo shop that Four hasn't ever seen before. Zeke parks next to an old red Camaro and Four looks the car over, having a feeling he knows the owner of it. The men step out of the challenger and Four looks at the sticker on the lower middle of the hatchback window, it reads 'endless summer' in the shape of a heart. His stomach ends up in his throat as he follows Zeke into the shop. At the counter is a familiar blonde and Four makes a mental note to kill Zeke after this.

"Well, hello," Tris smiles at the guys. She's shocked that Zeke is here; he told her he was done getting tattoos for a while. She's even more shocked that Four is standing next to him.

"Hello, gorgeous, my friend here needs some work done," Zeke smirks as he nods towards Four.

"What're we touching up?" Tris looks over at Four.

"Some stuff on my back."

"Let's take a look at it."

"Um, okay," Four turns around so his back is facing Tris. He pulls up his shirt and Tris looks over all of the different ink on his skin. A phrase on his shoulder blade catches her eye. 'Come to fight, trained to kill. Prepared to die, but never will.' Some of the letters are almost not noticeable anymore due to scars on his shoulder.

"This one?" Tris touches a finger to his shoulder.

"Yeah and this one," he turns so Tris can see the dog tags on his side.

"Okay, I'm just going to set everything up and I'll call you when I'm ready for you."

"Okay," Four says and Tris turns around to set up her station at the shop. Four glares at Zeke.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that Tris works here as a tattoo artist?" Zeke grins.

"You're not gonna stop are you?"

"Just give it a chance. She's rad, I swear."

"I don't want to date anyone."

"I'm not saying you have to date her. Just think about it."

"Hey, wanna come back here?" Tris calls towards Four.

"Yeah," he says and goes over to her, Zeke stays on the other side of the counter. He takes his shirt off and she has him lay down on her table so she can touch up his shoulder first. The two don't talk as she preps his skin. She turns the machine on and the buzzing noise fills the shop. Tris starts to go over the black words.

"So, you really went to the army, huh?" she says softly.

"Yeah, I always thought about it and after. You know. I just needed to leave."

"My parents had mentioned that you enlisted, but I never heard much about it after that. Your dad never really talked about it."

"He was pissed about it."

"He's always pissed about everything."

"Yeah, he is."

"So, how long were you there?"

"Afghanistan?"

"Yeah."

"I did three tours, each one lasted a different amount of time."

"Are you still active?"

"No, I did four years of active duty and now I've been inactive for a year now. So I have one more year left."

"So you're out after this year?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to reenlist."

"Did you think about it?" Tris goes over the word fight, keeping her attention on the tattoo.

"I though about it during my second tour, but after the third one I decided I couldn't."

"Something happen?" She looks at him, their eyes not leaving each other's for a second.

"Yeah."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No," he whispers and for a second Tris feels like she's with the eighteen year old kid she spent too much of her time with. She wants to grab his hand, but can't. No one knows they even know each other, they're supposed to act like strangers.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

"How'd you get this scar?" She taps his shoulder, the one that she's currently touching up.

"My third tour."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I just haven't been ready to touch it up I guess, but it'll look better after you fix it," his mouth curves up and she grins at him for a second.

"We'll see about that. For all you know, I have no idea how to handle this machine."

"I'm sure you're just as good with is as you are with a pencil," the compliment comes out of his mouth easily. He's seen Tris draw before, her hands just flow over the paper.

"Maybe," she smiles.

"So tattoos?"

"It fell into my lap. An artist here needed an apprentice and Zeke had gotten some work done here, so he had me meet the guy. I started apprenticing at nineteenish."

"Seriously? Nineteen?"

"Yeah, it was killer. I worked around Christina's schedule. So she took Rory when I was here."

"She has Rory a lot, I take it?"

"Yeah she does, she's a good baby daddy," Tris smirks.

"I'm glad you have her."

"Me too. It'd be a lot harder without her. She's been amazing through everything."

"I'm sorry," Four says after a long pause.

"It's fine, we're not talking about that, remember? We're not bringing that up. We have no reason to bring it up."

"I really screwed you over."

"Honestly, yeah you did, but I get it. You're not supposed to be a dad, some people aren't."

"I just don't know how to be one."

"And that's fine. He doesn't need one."

"Doesn't every kid need one?"

"No they don't. He has me, Christina and the rest of my family. He's with Caleb a lot, so that's good for him. Sure Caleb isn't exactly a rugged guy, but he's a guy and honestly I don't think Rory needs a macho man around. He's already too much for me, I can only imagine how'd he'd act being around guys like you."

"What do you mean?"

"He's this little intimidating thing. He's always ready to fight back, even if he's going to lose the fight. It's ridiculous. And he isn't afraid of anything."

"He's got to be afraid of something."

"He's not though, it scares me. He's so, just, I don't know he's so-"

"Dauntless?"

"Yeah, dauntless. He's afraid of nothing and I know he's going to end up hurt with the way he acts. When he was four he climbed up to the top of a tree in my parent's yard. Not just any tree, the tallest one in front of the house. And of course, he couldn't get down. But he didn't sit up there crying about it; he kept trying to get down. He wanted to show me that he could do it himself, but he slipped and I thought he was going to fall out of the tree."

"Did he fall?" Four asks, the story making him uneasy.

"No, I made him stop trying to get down and I went up there to get him myself. He wants to be independent so badly and he's constantly trying to show me how strong he is. How fearless he is."

"Sounds like you."

"How?"

"You've never let fear control you. I mean how many sixteen-year-old kids aren't even phased when they get pregnant? Let alone know they're going through the pregnancy without the guy…"

"I was scared, don't think I wasn't."

"But you did it."

"I had to. I didn't get to choose to do it or not. I got pregnant which meant I had to be a mom."

"But I got to choose?"

"Yeah, I guess you did." She doesn't say anything else as she finishes up the words on his shoulder. Tris has Four roll over onto his side so she can see the dog tags on his ribs. "This'll hurt."

"I know," he says and waits for her to bring the needle against his skin.

"Whose names are on the tags?" Tris doesn't take her eyes away from the tattoo.

"Some of the guys who were in my squad."

"I'm sorry," she says already knowing why the names are permanently put on his skin.

"Yeah," is all Four can bring himself to say. There are things he doesn't want to talk about with anyone. He's had to talk about it before and he told himself he'd never talk about it again. It's too hard to remember.

The two stay silent. Both of their minds racing a thousand miles a second. Tris never thought she'd be around Rory's father again. She let him get out of the situation and from then she just figured they'd always have separate paths. Her path wasn't supposed to intersect with his path again. They had gone separate ways and the one thing that tied them together stayed on her path.

Being this close to Tris makes Four uncomfortable. When she's near him all he can think about is how much he screwed her over. He was a kid and she was even younger than he was. At the time he was too afraid of Marcus to bring up the situation, or even accept the consequences of it. Now he isn't afraid to accept the situation, but he's afraid to admit he's a father. He wasn't meant to be one and being around Tris is just making him curious. He knows he has no right to be curious about the child that shares his DNA, but he can't help it.

"I feel like I don't even know you, but at the same time I do," Tris finally breaks the silence.

"I kind of know what you mean."

"If our friend Zeke over there keeps this up, we're going to be seeing each other more frequently than we planned."

"I'm starting to get that feeling too."

"Do we want to avoid each other?" Tris doesn't look at him when she asks. She doesn't want to see him say yes, hearing it will be more than enough.

"I don't want to avoid you," he says gently. Silently hoping he isn't crossing any boundaries she has set when it comes to him. Boundaries she's rightfully set after the way he's acted all of these years.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I am." He can feel his heart racing, she's always been the one person that can make his heart practically beat out of his chest.

"Hey, I just got a call from Uriah. He needs a ride home, he's drunk and smart enough to call me. Is it cool if I come back?" Zeke pops his head up to look past the counter.

"Yeah, I should be done in a half an hour or so," Tris answers him.

"It might take me longer than that to get him," Zeke bites his bottom lip.

"Oh, um. Where is your car?" Tris looks at Four.

"At the station."

"I could swing by there when I'm finished up here. I'm closing up the shop tonight. I mean, if you want me to. Your car is on my way home."

"Uh, yeah, we could do that."

"Alright, so Tris will take you back to your car. I'm sorry I gotta run, but Uriah-"

"Go get your brother," Tris laughs and Zeke runs out of the shop, yelling goodbye to his friends after he's already out the door.

"Well, I didn't plan on getting you alone," Four says after a few minutes.

"It's safe to say we haven't been alone together since I told you I was pregnant."

"Yeah, not a good day…"

"For either of us, but I had mentally prepared myself for what you were going to say."

"Yeah."

Tris finishes touching up the dog tag and starts to clean up her station. Four helps her along the way, asking where things belong. The two finish cleaning up the shop and Tris locks up. Four follows Tris to her car and gets in the old Camaro.

"Never got a newer car?" he looks over at her as she puts her seatbelt on and starts the car.

"I could never, Maro is my first baby," she pats the dashboard.

"You always were obsessed with this car."

"So obsessed that I didn't even get rid of it when I had to start taking a car seat with me everywhere I went."

"How did you even fit a car seat in here?"

"The passenger seat had no leg room," she smiles, "But I made it work."

Tris starts heading to the station. Her and Four's conversation is easy and she's sad that it ends when she gets into the parking lot. Four directs her towards his bronco and he unbuckles before opening the car door.

"This may be totally inappropriate, but wanna go get a drink?" He asks her as standing outside of her car.

"You want to get a drink with me?"

"Think of it as part of your tip?"

"I, guess I could. Christina has Rory and he's always in bed by the time I get done closing the shop…"

"I'll drive," he smiles at her.

She parks her car and goes over to his bronco. The two go to the nearest bar, one of Christina and Will's spots. Four opens the doors for Tris and she wants to blush at the action, but knows better. She doesn't want to admit to herself that she's enjoying herself. She also knows she can't be getting attached to Four, she has Rory to think about too. She can't let Four back into her life and into Rory's life, he needs to prove himself.

* * *

"What do you want?" Four smiles at Tris as she takes a seat at the bar next to him.

"I kind of want a long island iced tea."

"And I never took you for a mixed drink kind of girl."

"Christina got me hooked on them."

"Long island it is."

The bartender puts a beer in front of Four and a long island by Tris. The two cheers and Tris finishes her drink in record time. She's nervous about being alone with Four and wants some liquid courage to make the situation easier. Four orders her another drink and by the time she's halfway done with it she feels more relaxed.

"So you decided to go and be a police officer?" Tris sips her drink.

"Figured it was something I could do and I make decent money. I just got to stay in decent shape."

"Which I'm sure isn't hard for you. You've always been a gym rat."

"A gym rat?"

"Yeah, you were at the gym all the time. It was ridiculous. But I guess I can't really talk too much shit, I'm kind of a gym rat these days too."

"You're telling me that you work out now?"

"Hey, I always ran."

"Yeah, but you didn't lift."

"Well I lift now. I had to loose some baby weight and decided that'd I'd tone up while I did it. It's a good thing I did too, I wouldn't be able to pick Rory up if I hadn't started working out?"

"He's five, I'm sure you could pick him up if you didn't work out."

"He's five and almost outgrew me already. He takes after his dad apparently," she rolls her eyes and gives Four a grin.

"You really think he takes after me?"

"Yeah, some things are so you it's stupid. Makes me miss you," she covers her mouth in embarrassment after the words spill out of her mouth. Tris closes her eyes, cursing in her head for admitting that she misses him.

"I miss you sometimes too," Four looks down at his second beer.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he nods his head.

"Where'd we go wrong?"

"I believe our first mistake was sneaking around and sleeping together when we were kids."

"Yeah, me getting pregnant really screwed up our secret relationship."

"What were we back then?"

"Two idiot kids."

"I know that, but what were we. Were we dating? I mean, did you feel like we were dating?"

"If we were dating we wouldn't have hid each other from everyone else. I had my own personal life and people in it and then you on the side. You were like my dirty little secret."

"Why'd we hide?"

"I really don't know," Tris finishes her drink and Four orders her a new one as well as another beer for himself.

"Me neither."

"I bet if we didn't hide and we were open about our relationship, we wouldn't have a five year old right now. We probably wouldn't have had any time to fool around. My parents wouldn't have let me go to your house alone. They'd just let you come over to my house."

"And if that was how it all went down what would've happened?"

"Maybe we would've became something more than fuck buddies."

"We were just fuck buddies?"

"No, we were more than that. But we weren't ever a couple."

"We should've been."

"And if we had been you would've gone off to join the army and I would've been here worrying about you all the time. And I know you got hurt there, I don't know the details but I know something happened and I know you were in debriefing for a while. I heard your dad mention it to mine. I don't know if I would've handled that well."

"You think it would've been too hard to be with me while I was gone?"

"I might've been, but I guess it doesn't matter. Things didn't happen that way."

"A part of me wishes they did," he sighs and takes a gulp of beer.

"And that part of you would be miniscule if you met Rory."

"Maybe."

"It would," she says and grabs his hand. She's not sure why she does, but it feels like the right thing to do. It could be the alcohol pulsing through her body that's suddenly giving her the balls to touch him.

"You're too good to me," he says and turns to look at her. He gets lost in her eyes and all he wants to do it wrap her up in his arms like he used to. She's the same strong girl that he had feelings for, but now she's grown up.

"Someone has to be good to you," she whispers, "You deserve to have someone be good to you."

"I don't though. I ran away from you when you got pregnant. Just completely left you."

"You were scared," she brings a hand up to his cheek.

"So were you."

"We had very different living situations at that time though."

"It doesn't make it okay, what I did."

"I never said it was okay, I just said I was okay with it. It was always your decision and I wasn't going to force you into anything."

"I'm going to make it up to you, Beatrice."

"Why?"

"Because I owe it to you. I flipped your life upside down and never had to deal with any of the consequences. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. I'm always going to be sorry for that."

"I know you're sorry."

"I need to make things right between us, and I'm going to, okay? I'm going to fix this."

"What is this?"

"I've got to fix our friendship Tris. I need to."

"We're just friends right?"

"Yes, just friends. We can be friends, right?"

"Right."

The two stay at the bar till it closes and Four decides it's best to get a cab. He knows he can't drive right now and Tris drank more than he did. They get into the backseat of the cab and go to Tris' place first. Once they pull up to the curb the cab stops and Tris goes to open the door.

"Wait," Four says and pulls her into a hug, "I'm going to make things okay. I swear, Beatrice."

"I know, Tobias," she whispers, finally letting herself say his name. The first time she's said his name since he found out about Rory. His heart stops for a second at the way his name sounds when she says it. He doesn't want to let her go, but knows her has to. There is a list of things he needs to do to make this all okay and he needs to start tomorrow.

* * *

_Well here it is, chapter two. Hope you guys liked it and like where this story is going. _


	3. Dog Bite

Four gets out of his car with a sigh. Zeke couldn't make it to work today so he's by himself. Of course the one-day Zeke isn't here he gets called for a dog bite of all things. There is an ambulance outside of the house and he shakes his head, assuming someone overreacted to the situation.

A frazzled woman is talking to another officer and Four wonders why he's even here right now. The woman can't seem to calm down as she tries to explain what happened. He watches her for a second then spots another officer standing off to the side. He walks over to the man and asks, "What's the story?"

"Apparently the one neighbor has a dog that's caused problems before. I've gotten called over here at least on one other occasion. It's a good-sized dog, looks like a shepherd mix. This street has a few little kids on it. What I've heard is that a couple of kids were outside playing tag and the dog got out. The dog went after the one kid, but the other one tackled the dog. I guess it pissed to dog off more cause he chomped down pretty good on the kid's arm."

"Chomped down hard enough to need an ambulance?"

"It was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if the little kid needs to get a few stitches."

"Seriously?" Four raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you gotta check it out."

"I will. Where's the dog?"

"The owner has it in the yard. The owner is saying the kids provoked the dog. But the dog has bit someone before so I don't think it's the kids' fault."

"Who's your partner talking to?"

"The kid's aunt. She was the one watching him. She saw it happen, shook her up."

"Anyone talk to the kid?"

"Not yet."

"Are both kids together?"

"No, the one that got bit is in the ambulance though."

"Then I'm headed that way."

Four is curious about how bad the bite actually is. He walks over to the ambulance and turns the corner so he can see into the back of it. A small boy is sitting next to a female paramedic. The paramedic is checking out the boy's arm and there is bloody gauze sitting around. The little boy is staring at his arm, watching everything the paramedic is doing.

"Hey there tiger," Four says and the little boy looks up at him, "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," the kid's voice is soft and calm.

Four steps into the ambulance and sits next to the boy. He glances over at the kid's arm. There are deep teeth marks and his arm is already bruising. Just from taking a quick look he can tell that some stitches are going to be needed.

"How's your arm feel?"

"Okay."

"I'm gonna numb up your arm, okay kiddo?" the paramedic asks, she smiles at the kid, trying to reassure him.

"How?"

"Just a shot or two, okay?"

"Oh, okay," he watches as she prepares the syringe and puts a couple of shots into his arm. He sucks in a sharp breath and closes his eyes tightly.

"Good job tiger," Four says to him, "So what happened outside before you got bit?"

"I was playing with Dylan. We were playing tag. I was it and I was chasing him," he pauses when he sees the paramedic get ready to stitch up his arm.

"It won't hurt, swear," Four says when he sees the little boy begin to freak out. The deep voice soothes the child and he lets out a shaky breath.

"How do you know?"

"I've gotten lots of stitches. They're not so bad."

"Okay," the boy nods. When the paramedic begins he grabs on to Four's pants, keeping his hand in a tight fist full of fabric.

"You're doing so good," the girl smiles up at the child before going back to fixing up his arm.

"So you were chasing Dylan," Four says.

"And that dog came outside. He's not a nice dog. He always barks and growls when I walk by his house with Auntie or Uncle. The dog growled at Dylan and we stopped playing cause we didn't want to make the dog mad. Then the dog started coming closer to us. He was going to bite Dylan."

"How do you know?"

"He bit Dylan before and Dylan cried..."

"What happened after he was going to bite Dylan?" Four can feel the little boy's grip tighten on his pants when the paramedic begins stitching up another puncture.

"I grabbed him so he couldn't. I didn't want Dylan to get bit again."

"So the dog bit you instead?" Four asks and the little boy nods.

"He bit me and shook his head around, Auntie started screaming and she got the dog to let go of me. My arm was bleeding a lot. And Auntie put a towel on it and pressed on it really hard. Then I had to come in here and now they're fixing it."

"Yes, they are. You'll be good as new."

"Okay, kiddo. We're all done, but you're going to need to get a shot. I don't have the stuff to give you a shot here. I'm going to go talk to your Auntie and tell her what needs to happen, okay?" The paramedic talks to the child calmly and he nods. She gets out of the ambulance and walks over to where his aunt is.

"I don't like that dog," the kid looks up at Four with big blue eyes.

"I wouldn't either."

"He's not a nice dog. He's a mean one."

"Not all dogs are mean though."

"I know. I like dogs," the kid says matter of factly. He clearly isn't afraid of dogs after being attacked by one.

"How're you feeling, Rory?" The child's aunt asks him when she comes up to the ambulance. Four's breathing hitches at the name and he looks over the child. He takes notice of the messy blonde hair, fair skin and dark blue eyes. Lots of kids are named Rory, he tells himself.

"Okay. I have to get a shot," he frowns.

"You don't have to be afraid of shots, honey."

"I'm not. I don't want to go get a shot, I want to stay here and play."

"You can't. You've got to go to your mommy and she's gonna take you to get that shot."

"Is she coming here?"

"No, she's finishing up at work. I've got to figure out what we're going to do about that neighbors dog, so I won't be able to take you."

"Who's going to take me?"

"One of Papa's friends, Marcus. He said he'd pick you up and drive you to your mommy, is that okay?"

"Yes. I know him."

Four feels nauseous when he hears the name Marcus. He's sure the chance of Marcus being the same Marcus as his father is slim. Just like the chances of this kid being Tris' Rory are low. All these familiar names are making his stomach turn, he stands up and goes to exit the ambulance.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rory looks over at him, his lips pursed together.

"I've got to go tiger, I have other places I need to be," Four tries to give him a sincere smile.

"Where?"

"I'm working. So wherever they need me to go."

"They told you to come here?"

"Yes they did."

"Oh," Rory looks down at his arm. The little boy suddenly feels uncomfortable. He enjoyed having Four next to him while he got his stitches. Even though he won't say it, he wants Four to go with him to get his shot.

"I need to go back to work. You don't go jumping on anymore dogs, okay?" Four grins at Rory.

"Okay," Rory pauses. He tries to think of something to make the officer stay with him, just until Marcus comes to get him. "What's your name?"

"My friends call me Four."

"Like the number?"

"Like the number."

"I was four, but now I'm five. Can I call you Four?"

"Sure," Four says as he looks at the little boy. He recalls Tris saying that Rory is five and in front of him is a five-year-old little boy named Rory. Everything is making him believe that this child is his.

"So we're friends?" Rory looks up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Of course we're friends," Four says and suddenly can't leave the little kid. He'd feel guilty leaving him.

"My friends call me Rory," the little boy blinks his eyes. "Mommy calls me Rory Alexander when she's mad at me though," he pulls up his nose and bites his bottom lip.

"We have the same middle name," Four sighs. He rubs the back of his neck and smiles at Rory.

"Really?" Rory's eyes get big with excitement.

"Yeah it is, my mom picked it out for me."

"My mom picked mine out too. Is your last name Prior too?" The little boy raises an eyebrow when he asks the question, extremely curious if Four and him share the same last name. Four can't speak for a moment, he feels like he's been punched in the stomach. Sitting in front of him is the thing he ran away from.

"No, it's not," Four gulps, his mouth suddenly feeling extremely dry.

"Oh, my mommy's last name is Prior. Dylan's last name is Howell. He has the same last name as his mommy too."

"Hey, buddy, I'm gonna go talk to the neighbor. Are you okay with waiting here for Marcus?" Rory's aunt asks him.

"Will you wait with me?" Rory looks over at Four.

"Yeah, I'll wait with you," Four says already knowing he can't deny the child in front of him.

"Okay, I'll wait here," Rory smiles at his aunt. She pats his head before walking off.

"What's your aunt's name?" Four asks, not sure who the woman is.

"Susie, she is married to Uncle Caleb. I got to go to their wedding with Mommy. Mommy was my date, we matched."

"You matched?" Four smiles.

"Yes," Rory nods and Four can't seem to stop staring at him. He never imagined he'd see the tiny human being that shares his DNA, but here he is. Rory has Tris' hair color, her skin tone, his eyes are the same shape as hers, but they're not the same color blue as hers. The dark blue color of Rory's eyes are an Eaton trait. Four takes note of how tall the kid is, he's going to be bigger than Tris. He's got the same build Four did when he was that age.

"Was the wedding fun?"

"Yes, I danced with Chris and Nana and Mommy. And there was a giant cake. It was chocolate and I had three pieces, but Mommy doesn't know. I snuck them."

"You snuck the cake?" Four smirks.

"Yeah, Mommy would be mad if she found out. She said I couldn't have that many, but I did. Don't tell her."

"I won't," Four chuckles.

"Rory," a voice says causing both Four and Rory to look in the direction. Marcus is standing a few feet away from them. Marcus stares at his son, he didn't even know he was back in the area.

"That's Marcus," Rory says to Four, "He's my papa's friend."

"Tobias," Marcus says and takes a step forward.

"Marcus," Four says nonchalantly.

"Who's Tobias?" Rory furrows his eyebrows.

"My son," Marcus looks over at Rory with a grin, "I see you've met him already though."

"That's your name?" Rory looks over at Four.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"Marcus is your dad?"

"Yup," Four says and stares at Marcus.

"I didn't realize you had come back from your tour," Marcus calmly says, not phased that his son didn't tell him he was back. He really hasn't talked to Tobias since he left.

"I didn't tell you."

"Yeah, you didn't," Marcus gives his son a dour grin.

"Guess I forgot."

"Yeah, forgot."

"Do you know my mommy?" Rory breaks the tension.

"Yes, he knows your mommy," Marcus tells him, "They met when they were kids."

"Like my age?" Rory points to himself.

"No they were older than you are right now. They were teenagers," Marcus blithely smiles at the youngest Prior. He's used to Tris' son and has watched him grow up to the age he is now.

"When will I be a teenager?"

"In eight years you'll be a teenager," Marcus chuckles.

Four stares at Marcus, not sure of how to asses what's going on in front of him. It's obvious that Rory is very comfortable with Marcus and Marcus is comfortable with Rory. Watching the two converse so easily makes Four wonder what the two would think of each other if they knew how they're related to each other.

"That's far away," Rory says and then stands up to leave.

"Time flies, you'll see," Marcus ruffles Rory's blonde hair.

"Time can't fly," Rory states and Four smirks at the remark.

"It's an expression."

"Oh."

"Ready to go to your mom?"

"Yeah. Do you think she's going to be mad at me?"

"For what?" Marcus looks down at Rory.

"For getting bit," Rory throws up his hands in the air exasperated, like it was obvious.

"No," Marcus laughs, "She won't be mad at you. I'm sure she'll just be happy you are okay."

"You sure?" Rory crosses his arms over his chest and Four grins.

"Yes, I'm sure. Come on we gotta go. Your mom should be getting off of work soon and then she'll be able to take you to get that shot."

"Stupid shot," Rory huffs.

"Don't say stupid. That's not a nice word."

"Whoops?" Rory shrugs his shoulders.

"Yeah, whoops," Marcus starts to walk away but then he turns around to look at Four, "Good seeing you son."

"Uh huh," Four says.

"Are you friends with my mom?" Rory asks Four.

"I guess so."

"Then you should come to our house," Rory smiles, "All her friends come over. You should come too."

"We'll see about that tiger," Four absently grins.

"Bye Four."

"Bye Rory."

"Come on kiddo," Marcus looks down at Rory and Rory grabs on to his hand.

Four watches as his father walks away with his son. The picture makes his blood boil. Even though he was the one that decided to stay out of Rory's life it isn't fair that his father has gotten to be apart of it. Four decided to not be apart of Rory's life because of Marcus, yet Marcus is the one who has a relationship with Rory. Everything about these circumstances make him uncomfortable.

* * *

"Hello?" Zeke's voice is groggy when he answers his phone.

"Come over," Four says.

"I feel like shit, dude."

"So? Drink and feel better."

"We're drinking at your place?"

"Yeah, I had a long day and need a drink."

"Anyone else coming over?"

"I don't care who comes over. Invite anyone. I just need a drink and I'm not going to drink alone."

"Cause only alcoholics drink alone."

"Yeah I know, so hurry up and come over."

"Okay, okay, I'll be there in a few."

Four's small house begins to fill up with people shortly after Zeke arrives. He's already had a few drinks, he needed them after his encounter with Marcus. Unexpectedly meeting Rory has filled his mind with hundreds of what ifs and a large part of him feels guilty. Guilty for never being around and for leaving Tris to raise their child on her own. Referring to Rory as "their" child seems wrong, as far as Rory is concerned he only has a mom.

After meeting Rory Four began to ask himself a million questions. Why did he tell Tris he couldn't be a dad? Because Marcus showed him that not every person is meant to be a father. Should he have let Tris raise Rory on her own? It wasn't fair, he was part of the reason she got pregnant and she was the one who had to grow up. Four wasn't ready to be a father; he still isn't ready to be a father. He was never meant to have kids. He's sure of it. But he can't picture any other man raising Rory. He can't fathom watching another guy treat Rory like his own. The thought makes his head spin.

"Heard you helped with Rory today," Tris says as she comes up behind Four.

"Uh, yeah, I didn't know it was him. I'm sorry," Four says in a hushed tone.

"You're sorry?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have gone over to him if I knew it was him."

"Why?"

"I'm not supposed to be around him. I chose not to have him around, I shouldn't be around him."

"Tobias, I'm glad you were there. You kept him calm and he won't stop talking about you."

"Why?"

"You made an impression on him."

"How's his arm?"

"Bruised up and sore, but he's taking it like it's nothing. Little guy has a high pain tolerance."

"Where is he?"

"With Caleb and Susan. After getting his shot he insisted on going back over there to play with Dylan. There was no stopping him. He's persistent when he wants something. So he's spending the night over there."

"Oh."

"You know, you're the one who decided to not be around. I didn't choose that for you, you chose that for you. You said you want to fix our friendship. My friends are around my son. If you're not okay being around him, than we can't be friends."

"I don't know how to be around him."

"Of course you don't. You're too preoccupied with every reason you can't be around him," Tris sighs, clearly annoyed with the conversation. "Do you have anywhere I can put my stuff?"

"You can toss it in my room," Four leads her to his bedroom. She looks around, it's similar to the one he had when he was a kid. The words Fear God Alone are painted on the wall, the exact way she remembers them. Tris puts her stuff down in a corner of the room and follows Four back into the living room.

When Marlene and Uriah show up Tris starts to have more drinks. By the time Christina shows up Tris is slurring her words and stumbling through the house. She hasn't been this drunk in years and forgot how impulsive she gets. When she drinks she lets her emotions take over in full force. Anytime something she finds humorous happens she's gripping her sides in laughter, tears forming in her eyes.

Four has had his fair share of drinks as well. He's made sure to avoid Tris all night. He doesn't know what to say to her, his guilt is eating him alive. A red head catches his eye and when she notices him she strolls over to him. She's tall, only a few inches shorter than him.

"Hey," her voice is honeyed.

"Hi," Four grins at her.

"Your house?" she bats her eyelashes.

"Yeah it is. I've never seen you around before."

"I'm friends with a friend of Lynn's."

"So you know Lynn?"

"I know of her," the girl grins, "Name's Lana."

"Four," he sticks his out to her and she shakes his hand.

"Nice place you've got here."

"Thanks. Can I get you a drink?"

"Sounds perfect."

The two spend an hour or so with each other. The constant flirting is keeping Four's mind off of his current inner battle. Once his thoughts are more than laced with alcohol he takes her hand and leads her to his room.

Tris can see the two walk down the hall and she's suddenly pissed off. Tobias has been telling her that he wants to fix their friendship, yet he's going off to his bedroom with a girl while she's here. She shouldn't be jealous, but she is. He's been telling her he's going to make things up to her and then he goes off with some girl.

She's ticked off that he keeps belittling himself when it comes to Rory. He's so stuck with not being able to be a dad. He couldn't man up for her when she got pregnant and he still can't man up for Rory. Thinking about how much she's had to go through without him makes her fume. He's half of the reason she got pregnant. In the back of her mind she's always known she wasn't okay with him bailing on her. She's always been hurt by it, but now after running into him again she's hurt all over again. He's met their child and he's still too afraid to be a father. He's too afraid to be her friend, even after everything he's put her through.

* * *

Tris wakes up in the morning, her head pounding from the night before. She tries to recall what happened, but can't. Her eyes flutter open and she tosses off the covers to see that she's wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of boxers. There is a soft snore beside her and she turns around to see Matthew.

"Matthew," she says, clearly alarmed as to why she is in her best friend's bed and in his clothes.

"Huh?" he answers in his sleep.

"Mattie, wake up."

"What?" he opens his eyes to look at her.

"Why am I in your clothes?"

"Oh, that," Matthew chuckles and sits up. "Apparently you had too many drinks last night and Uriah ended up taking you here for the night."

"Uriah brought me to your guys' place?"

"Yeah, you were shit faced. He got you in the house and I got you situated on the couch. Then I went to the kitchen for a second and when I came back in to the living room you were gone."

"I was gone?"

"Yeah, I looked through the house for you and couldn't find you. Then I come into my room and you're sleeping all sprawled out in my bed. And you're in my clothes. Tris, I don't even know how you know which drawers my clothes are in," he snickers.

"I put myself in your clothes," she shakes her head.

"Yeah you did, " he smiles, "It's cool. You were gone last night. Uriah said some shit happened and he brought you here I don't know what happened though."

"I'm sorry," she giggles, "I don't even know what I did last night."

"I wasn't there. So I have no idea what you did."

"I don't think I wanna know."

"Probably not. Oh, by the way, I'm never sharing my bed with you again. You are a bed hog, I felt like I was going to fall off my own bed all night."

"Shut up," she grins.

"I'm serious."

"Go back to sleep," she says glancing at the clock, it's only nine in the morning, "The shop doesn't open for three more hours."

"And it's your day off," he yawns.

"Yes it is," she smiles, "Thanks for letting me steal your shit."

"Anytime sweetheart," he mumbles.

Tris changes back into her own clothes and quietly leaves the room. She tiptoes through the house and ends up sitting in the kitchen. Uriah comes in yawning.

"Morning," she says.

"Hey loser," he rubs his eyes, "You hung-over?"

"Have the worst headache of my life."

"I figured. You flipped out last night."

"I did?"

"Yeah you did. I don't even really know what happened all I know is that you got locked out of the house somehow."

"I got locked out of the house?"

"Yeah, I went out to get you and I just ended up bringing you here."

Tris' phone rings and she looks at the caller id, not recognizing the number. "Hello?" she says.

"Tris," Tobias' voice is thick with sleep.

"Uh, yeah. How'd you get my number?"

"Zeke. We need to talk."

"About?"

"Last night."

"Why?"

"We just do."

"Where are you?"

"Uriah's."

"I'm going to come pick you up and I'll bring you back here to get your car, okay?"

"Uh, sure."

"I'll be there in ten."

"Okay," she hangs up.

"Who was that?" Uriah asks.

"Four, he's going to take me back to my car."

"That's nice of him."

Ten minutes later Tris is leaving Uriah's house to get inside of Four's old bronco. She hops in and he begins heading back to his house.

"So, what do we need to talk about?" she asks.

"Your behavior last night. And mine."

"What'd I do?"

"I took a girl into my room and next thing I know you're pounding on my door. Actually you're pounding my door down. I swear you almost broke it."

"Why would I do that?"

"You wanted your stuff and it was in my room."

"You should've just given me my stuff then," she shrugs.

"I tried, I opened up the door to give you your things and next thing I know you try to punch me in the face."

"I tried to punch you in the face?" she's completely shocked.

"Yeah you did."

"Did I hit you?"

"You would've if I didn't block you."

"Oh, sorry?"

"Yeah. Tris you can't just go around throwing punches when you're drunk."

"I've never tried to punch anyone in my life."

"Well you tried to punch me last night."

"You pissed me off."

"I pissed you off?"

"Yeah, you left me with Rory and I've never complained. Then all of the sudden you're back in my life and saying you want to fix things and I see you go off in your room with another girl. Who does that?"

"Tris, we aren't a couple."

"I never said we were, but you could respect me enough to not do that in front of me. And maybe you can man up and start accepting that you have a child. I know I can be a single mom, but maybe I don't want to be one anymore."

"I'm going to try to fix things, okay? I really am."

"Okay."

"Now for my behavior. When you tried to punch me I grabbed you, I picked you up and put you outside. Then I locked you outside."

"You locked me outside!?"

"Yeah, you pissed me off."

"You practically put me in time out cause I tried to punch you."

"I was drunk. You were drunk and we were both pissed off. So I'm not going to drink anymore."

"Why?"

"Cause it causes problems between us. If I wasn't drinking I wouldn't have brought that girl in my room. So no more drinking on my part."

"Mine either," she giggles.

"What?" he raises an eyebrow.

"I tried to punch you in the face."

"That's not funny."

"Yes it is. I've thought about punching you so many times, but I never thought I'd try to do it."

"Tris, it's not funny," he chuckles, "You seriously almost punched me in the face!"

"Obviously I need to keep working out, cause I didn't break down your door and I didn't hit you."

"You're an idiot," he grins.

"And you're an ass."

The both pause, their conversation is just as easy as it was when they were kids. Tris sighs contently and Tobias looks over at her.

"We're going to start being honest with each other, okay?" Tobias asks.

"Okay. But if we're being honest, you need to accept that Rory is your son."

"I know."

"I'm not saying we need to tell anyone, but I wouldn't mind if you helped out a little bit financially. It's been hard."

"I'm going to help," Four looks over at her for a second, "You gave him the middle name Alexander."

"I felt like he needed one of your names. He's your son. He couldn't have your last name. So I gave him your middle name."

"We're going to fix this, I promise," he grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze.

"Friends?" she asks.

"Friends that have a baby together."

"An awesome baby," she smiles.

"He is awesome," Four can't help but agree.

* * *

_I had some extra time at work and decided to update this fic, hope you guys like it :)_

_Your reviews always make my day_


	4. Rory's Birthday Celebration

Tris is picking up the egg that Rory dropped from the counter while his legs kick back and forth from his spot near the sink. Everyone is coming over tonight for a barbecue in honor of Rory turning five. Rory insisted on having cupcakes and he didn't want bought ones, he wanted his mom to make them. He also had to help make them, which resulted in Tris currently cleaning up splattered egg on the floor. Once she's finished she gets up from the floor and throws the dirty paper towels in the trash.

"Sorry momma," Rory looks over at her.

"It's okay. It was an accident. Next time you'll be more careful when you help, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm gonna crack the rest of the eggs, okay?"

"Okay," he frowns as he watches his mom put the remaining eggs into the batter.

"How's your arm feeling?" She glances at the gauze that is covering his stitches.

"Fine."

"It doesn't hurt?"

"Nope."

"You're so tough buddy."

"Yeah," he smirks.

The two finish making the cupcake batter and pop them into the oven. While they're baking Tris gets her son to help her clean up the house. It's a mess and she'd be embarrassed if her friends came over to see it. Rory pouts nonstop as he helps his mother.

"I don't wanna wipe the mirror." He says while standing on the bathroom counter with a rag in his hands.

"I already sprayed it. Just wipe the wet part so it goes away."

"I like it wet."

"Rory, clean the mirror please," Tris sighs while she scrubs the hard water spots on the showerhead.

"It's clean. I can see me."

"Just cause you can see yourself doesn't mean it's clean."

"Yes it does."

"Rory," she warns.

"It does," he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Rory Alexander, clean that mirror or you can't help decorate the cupcakes."

"I don't wanna decorate them."

"Liar. Now clean."

"I don't. I want to watch Batman."

"We have things to do for tonight. I'm gonna tell everyone not to come over if you don't start helping."

"Who's coming over?"

"Auntie Tina is gonna come home for it, Will is going to come over, and Uriah, Matthew, Shauna, Lynn, Marlene, Caleb and Susan."

"That's a lot of people."

"Yes it is, so we need to have a clean house for when they come over, right?"

"It is clean."

"This house is messy and you know it."

"It's not messy."

"Yes it is," Tris puts her hands on her hips and looks at her son. His dark blue eyes don't blink. She knew this kid would give her a run for her money, her stubbornness on top of Tobias' attitude. Her Rory seems to take all the difficult traits from his parents.

"Why're you staring at me?" Rory gives her a devilish grin and she bites her lip to keep from grinning at him.

"You're a brat, you know that?"

"That's not a nice word," he states matter of factly and sticks his nose up in the air, the same nose Tobias has.

"Rory Alexander Prior. Clean that mirror or I'm going to make Matthew come over."

"Fine," Rory grumbles and begins to wipe the Windex. Matthew and Uriah have never been afraid to discipline the smallest Prior, they've taken the roll of adopted uncles and at times father the boy. Tris grins at her small victory, even though she knows she only won this battle through a threat. The timer going off startles her at first.

"Cupcakes are done," Tris says as she watches Rory finish cleaning the mirror.

"Cupcakes!" he jumps off of the counter and lands on his feet with a thud before taking off through the house.

"Do not open the oven!" Tris yells as she runs after her son.

"I'm not!"

When Tris gets into the kitchen she sees Rory bouncing on his toes, waiting for her to take the cupcakes out. The two make frosting while the cupcakes cool. Rory decorates the cupcakes in blue frosting with sprinkles while Tris helps him.

By the time Christina gets home the house is spotless and she can smell food cooking. Her mouth salivates when she enters the kitchen, seeing blue cupcakes lining the countertop. She looks around to make sure no one is watching her before she grabs a cupcake. Right as she goes to take a bite of it Rory is in front of her.

"You're naughty," he deadpans.

"Don't tell your mom," she crouches down to see eye to eye with him. After she takes a bite she holds the dessert out to him, he scans the room before grinning and taking a huge bite. "Hey. That was a shark bite," Christina whispers and Rory giggles, his mouth full and lips covered in frosting.

"So sneaky," Will says as he comes into the kitchen. The two look like a couple of deer in headlights and he smirks.

"You better not tell on us," Rory says.

"Or really?"

"Yes."

"I won't tell if you share."

"Share with him," Rory looks at Christina while pointing to Will.

"Fine," she frowns, knowing her boyfriend can eat the whole cupcake in one bite. She gets up from the floor and hands it over to Will who pops the remaining of the cake into his mouth.

"Who made those?" Will asks after he swallows.

"Me," Rory looks up at him.

"Good job dude. They're good."

"Thanks."

* * *

Tris walks through her backyard making sure everyone has everything they need. She goes back into the house when she realizes that Caleb's drink is empty. Once she's in the house she goes to the fridge to grab a water bottle, she spins on her heels when she hears the front door open.

"Tris, baby," Zeke says in his best Danny Zuko impression.

"Danny?"

"Sandy!"

"Tell me about it stud," Tris smirks as she goes to the hallway to say hello to her friend. She stops in her tracks when she sees Four standing behind Zeke. Zeke pulls Tris into a hug, lifting her off of the ground. "Danny, no!" Tris squeals playing along again.

"Sandy, don't worry about it, nobody's watching," Zeke spins her.

"Danny get off of me!" Tris bursts into laughter and Zeke puts her back on the floor.

"Didn't know you were such a Grease fan," Four gives Zeke a shit eating grin.

"I'm not," Zeke crosses his arms.

"You're a fake and a phony and I wish I never laid eyes on you," Tris pokes Zeke in the chest once.

"That's cool baby."

"Yeah, not a Grease fan my ass," Tris smiles before turning her attention to Four, "Welcome to mi casa. Make yourself comfortable. Everyone is out in the back."

"Good to see you again, Tris."

"You too Four. I'm sure my boy will be stoked to see you again."

"Zeke said it was cool if I tagged along."

"It's fine, really. Come on," she waves the men over and they follow her into the backyard.

"Took long enough," Uriah says to Zeke when he sees him.

"I was working, ass."

"Language," Christina warns.

"Sorry," Zeke makes a face.

"So I'm pretty sure you know everyone here, expect Susan," Tris says to Four.

"Susan?"

"Caleb's wife."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I'll introduce you to her."

"Okay." Four follows Tris over to Caleb and Susan. Susan has Rory on her lap and he's talking about how much he had to clean today and how awful it was.

"Tobias Eaton?" Caleb says.

"Hey, Caleb"

"It's been years," Caleb sticks out his hand and Four shakes it.

"I've been in Afghanistan."

"So I've heard."

"Good to see you're home."

"Glad to be home."

"This is my wife Susan," Caleb says and nods to Susan. She stands up from her chair, Rory now in her arms. "Susan, this is Tobias Eaton. Marcus' son."

"I think we've-"

"Four!" Rory cuts her off.

"We have," Four says to Susan, "Hey Tiger."

"You're here for my party?" Rory looks at him with a grin.

"I am. Zeke said I should come once we got off of work."

"Good."

"How's your arm feeling?"

"It doesn't hurt," Rory sticks his arm out.

"That's good to hear. You ready to get those stitches taken out?"

"How do they take them out?"

"They just cut them, it doesn't hurt at all."

"Okay," Rory nods.

"Rory!" Matthew yells from the other side of the yard, "Come here!" Susan puts her nephew down on the ground and he sprints across the grass. Tris follows Rory and Four does as well, not exactly comfortable around this group of mostly strangers. The two get over to Matthew and Zeke who are currently whispering something to Rory.

"What's this about?" Tris softly says to Four.

"I'd tell you if I knew."

"Really?" Rory's eyes are wide when he moves his head away from Matthew and Zeke. The two men nod and Rory leans forward again so they can finish talking to him.

"Wanna go get it?" Matthew asks.

"Yes, yes, yes," Rory jumps up and down.

"Come on," Zeke nods to the gate and Rory runs ahead of them.

"What did you two do?" Tris asks Matthew before he follows Zeke.

"Got Rory a gift, duh."

"What'd you buy him?"

"I can't tell you. It's not a mom approved gift."

"Matthew," Tris' voice goes stern.

"Calm down baby mama. He's excited."

Tris huffs as Matthew walks away from her. Four is curious about what has Rory so excited. Matthew, Zeke and Rory disappear from the backyard momentarily. When they return Zeke is carrying a small motorcycle and Rory can't seem to keep his eyes off of it.

"I'm going to kill them," Tris growls.

"Don't be a worrywart," Four whispers to her.

"The kid barely learned to ride a bike. Matthew just taught him."

Hearing that Matthew taught Rory how to ride a bike hits home for Four. That was supposed to be his job, but he walked out on that job. Even though he doesn't think he should be Rory's father, the thought of someone else doing it punches him in the gut. He can imagine Rory wobbling on his bike, but completely trusting Matthew to not let him fall. The picture makes him frown for a second.

"Maybe he'll go pro," Four nudges Tris.

"Ha."

"You've already said he's a little daredevil."

"Exactly, he is. Now I'm going to have to worry about him hurting himself cause he wants to do tricks."

"He'll be fine."

"I just wish he wasn't so fearless."

"Being fearless isn't a bad thing," Four whispers. If he were fearless he would've stayed when Tris told him she was pregnant. He wouldn't have run away from everything. This could be his second chance, a chance to stop being fearful of turning into his own father. But Marcus is the only father he's ever known, how could he not turn out like that?

"Mommy, isn't that so cool?" Rory runs over to Tris.

"It's very cool."

"It's mine."

"I know," she gives Zeke and Matthew a dirty look. Rory runs back over to the bike, running his hand over it. "You guys better have got him a helmet and some riding gear."

"We did," Zeke smiles.

"Totally prepared," Matthew holds up a bag of gear for Rory.

"I'm going to murder both of you once he falls asleep, I hope you know that."

"I will be leaving before he falls asleep then," Matthew states.

"We'll see about that."

* * *

Tris and Christina clean up the backyard with help from Zeke. Four went into the house about a half an hour ago and hasn't come back out since. Christina yawns as she collects bottles to throw away in the trash. The threesome checks over the backyard one last time before heading inside. When they get inside Tris notices Rory fast asleep on the floor in the middle of the living room. She goes over to him and then she notices Four snoring on the couch.

"Slumber party over here," Christina grins when she sees the boys.

"Apparently they were tired," Tris picks Rory up from the floor.

"No kidding," Christina ruffles the sleeping kid's hair. Tris carries her baby to his room and gets him tucked away in bed before returning to the living room. Zeke and Christina are sitting next to each other on the love seat so she sits down in a chair.

"Should I wake him up?" Tris looks over at Zeke.

"You won't be able to."

"I won't?"

"No. He's a really heavy sleeper. When I first met him he didn't sleep much at all. Every little noise would wake him up. But now since he's been home for a while he sleeps like a rock."

"I bet I could wake him up."

"Don't."

"Why?"

"You'll startle him. It's not worth it."

"It'll just startle him, no big deal," Christina says as she's about to get off of the couch, Zeke grabs her arm.

"Christina, seriously don't. He was in Afghanistan for a while, saw some bad shit. It honestly isn't safe to startle him awake. He'll just start swinging and then he'll feel like a dick."

"So we just leave him there?"

"I'm not waking him up. So unless he wakes up in the next five minutes, yeah."

"Okay," Christina shrugs.

"Well since he's spending the night," Tris gets up from her seat and goes to a trunk in the room. She opens it up and pulls out a blanket.

"Gonna keep him warm?" Zeke grins.

"Shut up," Tris puts the blanket on top of Four and goes back to her seat.

"Come on, he's not so bad."

"I never said he was bad."

"He's a good guy. A little rough around the edges."

"Stop pushing it," Tris rolls her eyes then smiles.

"He is cute," Christina says to her best friend.

"Shush, both of you."

"You're no fun."

* * *

Four hears the theme song of batman when he starts waking up. He blinks awake and looks around the room. He's confused at first, but then recognizes the living room; he fell asleep at Tris'. Zeke unknowingly left him at his not ex-girlfriend's house. Slowly Four stretches on the couch, groaning as he does.

"Hi," a little voice says to him. Four looks up and sitting on the top of the couch is Rory. His legs are against the back of the couch, dangling just about Four's body.

"Hey Tiger," Four rubs his eyes.

"You like Batman?"

"Of course."

"Momma is still sleeping and Auntie is at work. So I'm watching it by myself. Will you watch it with me?"

"Sure," Four sits up on the couch and Rory slides down from his perch next to him. Rory lifts up the blanket that was covering Four and puts it over himself. He then tosses the other half of the blanket over Four's legs.

"The Joker is the bad guy," Rory reminds Four.

"So we don't like him?"

"No and we don't like his girlfriend."

"He has a girlfriend?"

"Yes. Harley."

"Harley Quinn?"

"Yeah, she's his girlfriend. She's bad too."

"I didn't know bad guys have girlfriends."

"This one does," Rory turns to look at Four. Four feels like he's looking into a mirror, the same dark blue eyes stare at him.

"Does Batman have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Some people don't have them. Like Mommy. She doesn't' have a boyfriend."

"No?"

"No. She's never had a boyfriend. Just Auntie."

"She doesn't need a boyfriend."

"Just like Batman doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Exactly," Four says to Rory.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Rory eyes are big and innocent, Four wonders if his eyes ever held such innocence.

"No I don't."

"Why not?"

"I want to be like Batman."

"Me too," Rory grins and crinkles his nose. Four holds back a smile when he sees him do it. Tris crinkles her nose; she always did when Four made her laugh. The only difference is that Rory doesn't have Tris' nose. He has Four's nose.

Rory watches the cartoon and Four keeps glancing at the five-year-old. Unknowingly Rory has been pulling on his heartstrings. To see such a small person that is perfectly composed of two people is baffling to Four. Four has always looked more like his mother, only having certain features of his father's. But Rory, he's a perfect mix. Tris' hair, Four's build, Tris' high cheekbones, Four's dark eyes.

"That's the batmobile," Rory points to the tv.

"That's a cool car."

"Monster trucks are cooler."

"They are?"

"Yeah, I like Mohawk Warrior."

"What's cool about him?"

"He has a mohawk," Rory sighs, he thought it was obvious.

"You like mohawks?"

"I'm gonna have one."

"You are?"

"Yeah, Mommy said I could."

"That's cool."

"Yeah," Rory says and then turns his attention back to the tv. From the little bit of time Four has spent with the kid he understands what Zeke meant when he mentioned Rory's personality. The kid isn't quick to smile, but when he does Four can't help but smile back. Rory has already got him wrapped around his finger and he doesn't even know it.

* * *

_I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I hope you guys liked the chapter. You are the best readers ever, seriously. You guys make my day!_


	5. Stitches Removed

Tris nervously tugs on her fingers as Rory gets his stitches removed. Her boy doesn't even flinch as his skin gets tugged. Rory keeps his eyes focused on the nurse currently taking out each stitch. He focuses on the new scars that cover his small arm.

"And we're all done, buddy," the nurse gives him a smile.

"What about those spots?" Rory points to a scar.

"Those are going to stay on your arm. It's where your skin healed. So now you can play again."

"I don't have to wear a bandage?"

"Not anymore."

"Momma, I don't have to wear a bandage anymore!" he turns to Tris with a toothy grin.

"Isn't that great?" Tris high fives him.

"Yes," he jumps down from his seat.

The two leave the doctor's office and Rory is back to his usual self. He's well aware that he doesn't need to be overly careful anymore. He is officially allowed to run around and play with his friends again. All he can think about is the brand new riding gear sitting in his garage next to his shiny bike. Matthew and Zeke told him they'd teach him how to ride it once his stitches got removed.

Tris gets home and has Rory wait in the backyard for her. Matthew and Zeke arrive right on time. The men go into the backyard and greet the excited child. Zeke grabs the little dirt bike and loads it into his truck while Matthew grabs the riding gear. They put the bike next to the full sized ones in the bed.

"We're really going to go today?" Rory's eyes light up as he talks to everyone.

"You don't have stitches anymore so you are finally allowed to ride it," Zeke grins at him.

Once they're all in the truck they make their way to the track. Rory can't sit still in his seat as they get closer. Tris watches her son and even though she's not sure about having him on the bike she knows that he'll be able to handle it. Matthew taught her how to ride not that long ago and she knows he'll be able to teach Rory too.

Since reuniting with Tobias she feels like she's seeing more of him in her son than she used to. She's always picked out the physical features easily, but now she's seeing more of his traits. Rory's deep laugh is his father's a hundred percent, so is the way he sighs when he's annoyed.

A part of Tris wants to fully let Tobias in and just let him be Rory's dad. She wants to tell Christina that Rory is Tobias'. But she knows she can't. Tobias isn't ready to tell anyone and she doesn't want to do it now. She's kept it a secret for this long; it can't be that hard to do it for a few more years. Deep down she wants Tobias to fully accept Rory is his.

She doesn't need to be in a relationship with Tobias, but she wants Rory to have a relationship with him. When Rory was younger she didn't think she needed Tobias in his life, but now that Tobias is around she wants it. She wants it so damn bad.

They arrive at the track and Rory is the first one out of the truck. Immediately trying to help Matthew get his bike out of the bed first. Zeke and Matthew get all of the dirt bikes out and place them on the ground. Matthew gets Rory all geared up and puts his helmet on last.

"Rory, look at me," Tris has her phone out to take a picture of the little boy. He gives her a huge smile. "Thank you," she grins at him as she looks over the picture. Matthew and Zeke are proudly looking down at the kid and Rory is overly excited to start his lesson. Tris sends the picture to Tobias after thinking about it for a few seconds. She thinks that he'd like to see his boy all geared up and ready to ride.

"Ready?" Zeke fixes Rory's helmet.

"Ready!" Rory yells.

* * *

Tobias feels uneasy as he enters his childhood home. He only called up Marcus because there is something here that he wants. When he left he left everything in this house, but now he's finally ready to step back inside of it. He follows Marcus back to his bedroom and immediately focuses on the uneven multicolored vase.

"Here," Marcus says as he grabs the vase and hands it to Tobias.

"Thanks," Tobias looks down at the item in his hands. The vase his mother made with him when he was just a kid. He remembers it like it was yesterday, standing in front of his mom as she helped him with the throwing wheel.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Marcus says as calmly as possible.

"What?"

"How about we just sit down at the table and have a quick discussion."

"Why?"

"Please, son."

"Fine," Tobias huffs in annoyance.

He follows his father into the dining room and takes a seat across from him. Tobias taps his fingers against the wooden table in anticipation. It's been five years since he last had a conversation with Marcus.

"I know we aren't on good terms," Marcus looks down at his hands.

"Really?" Tobias raises his eyebrows in disbelief, "This is what you want to talk about. Us being on bad terms? We're on bad terms because of how you parented me."

"I know. That's not the point I'm getting at."

"Then what is it? Why am I still here?" Tobias is about to get up from the table. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and is tempted to pull it out and check it, but at the moment he's trying to keep himself from getting furious with Marcus.

"Tobias, I know."

"Know what?"

"About Tris."

"About Tris? What about Tris? I haven't talked to her in years. What do you suddenly know about that I'm supposed to care about?"

Tobias is more than done with this conversation. He grabs the vase and leaves the dining room. Marcus follows behind him.

"I know about Rory," Marcus calls to his son. Tobias stops in his tracks, looking down at his feet. He bites down hard and turns to his father.

"What about Rory?" Tobias stares at Marcus, trying his hardest to keep his secret.

"I know he's yours."

The words make Tobias lose his breath. He just looks at Marcus, not knowing what to say. Marcus' eyes search Tobias as he tries to find something to say.

"I've known for a while," Marcus' voice is gentle and it takes Tobias by surprise.

"How?" Tobias feels some weight come off of his shoulders as he finally admits that Rory is his.

"He's a spitting image of you. Everyone else may not realize that, but that's because they didn't see you at five."

"How long have you known?"

"Since he was about two."

"That long?"

"Yeah."

Tobias isn't completely sure why his dad is bringing this up. But he's almost relieved that he did.

"Does he know you're his dad?" Marcus looks his child over and Tobias shakes his head, "Why?"

"I'm not supposed to be a dad."

"Says who?"

"Me. No offense, but you weren't father of the year. And I'm not exactly qualified for the job of dad."

"I'm not saying I was a perfect dad. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to be one for your son."

"I don't know."

"Just think about it, Tobias."

Tobias nods and ends up pulling his phone out of his pocket. He sees that there is a text from Tris so he opens it up. The photo of Rory makes Tobias grin instantly.

"Look," Tobias holds his phone out to Marcus. Marcus looks at the photo and smiles.

"That should be you with him."

"Maybe," Tobias looks at the picture once more.

* * *

_I know, I know, it took me forever to post this. _


	6. Lunch

Tris follows her son into her parents' house. She's anxious, knowing that she's going to meet up with Tobias. No one knows who's she's going out with this afternoon. A part of her hates being secretive with the people she loves, but she knows it's for the best.

Rory goes into the living room immediately. Knowing that one of his grandparents is going to be in there. Sure enough his grandma is sitting in a chair reading the paper. He goes over to her and pulls the paper down so he can see her.

"Hi," he says looking over the paper.

"Well, hello Rory," she smiles at him.

"Mommy is leaving me here. She has to run errands."

"I know, she told me already. We're going to have fun here. More fun than Mommy will have. Right?"

"Right," he smiles at her.

"I'm going to head out," Tris nods towards the door.

"Be safe, honey," Natalie says to her daughter before pulling Rory into her lap.

"I will be."

Tris goes out to her car and can feel her heart rate quicken. She's not sure why she's so nervous about talking with Tobias. Recently they've been good around each other. There isn't any awkward tension and none of her friends have noticed anything about them. Their facade is working out perfectly. No one is aware that the two have a history together.

She gets to the small family owned restaurant and goes inside. Tris looks around for the familiar man but doesn't spot him. Just as she's about to pull her phone out she hears him come up behind her.

"Hey," he says to her.

"You just get here?"

"Yeah."

"Patio?"

"Sure."

The two go out to the patio. Tobias pulls out a chair for Tris before sitting down. She glances at the menu, already knowing that she's going to get a burger. That's the only thing she ever gets here.

The waitress comes and gets their orders. Neither of them says much to each other. Tobias wants to tell Tris that his dad knows about Rory, but isn't sure how to bring it up. Before either of them speaks the waitress is back with their drinks.

"So," Tris says and looks down at her hands before glancing at Tobias.

"I know we haven't talked about Rory recently. I don't want to be an absent father to him. I don't want him going through his life thinking I didn't want him."

"You didn't want him."

"I was afraid to want him. Afraid to be another Marcus."

"And now?"

"I've been thinking about things a lot," Tobias swallows and thinks about what he's going to say next. "It kills me to see him be fathered by Zeke and Matthew. To know that he looks up to them. It doesn't sit well with me."

"Why?"

"Because he's mine. He isn't their son yet they've stepped up to the plate and I haven't. I don't want someone to take responsibility for someone that is my responsibility. When you found out you were pregnant I was a scared kid who didn't know how to be responsible. Hell, I didn't even know how to love another person."

"And now?" Tris's voice is soft.

"I learned a lot about myself while I was in the military. I learned how to look out for other people and I finally found out how it is to care for another person. The guys in my squad, they were like my brothers. We did everything together. Ate together, slept near each other, joked with each other, watched each other's backs. I'd never cared about another person the way I cared about them."

"So you learned how to love because of them?"

"I did and I also learned about how it feels to lose someone you love. When my mom died, I was little. And I really don't remember much about her anymore. But them, I can still remember their laughs. Some of them had families. And…"

"We don't have to talk about this," Tris doesn't take her eyes off of him. He shakes his head and she knows that he needs to get this out.

"They loved their kids and now their gone. They were supposed to come home. Come back to their families and watch their kids grow up. The guys who had children and wanted to be fathers didn't get to come back. But I did. My kid doesn't even know I'm his dad. And somehow I got to come back home and I got to meet him."

Tobias stops talking and bites his bottom lip as memories threaten to return. He feels like he was given a second chance. None of his troops knew he had a kid back home. But they always told him how amazing it was being a dad. They deserved to come home to the children they loved, but they didn't. An overwhelming feeling of guilt washes over Tobias and he can feel his eyes well with tears.

Tris just stares at Tobias, seeing him so raw is new to her. She doesn't know much about Tobias' time away from the states. He doesn't open up to anyone. And hearing him talk like this is making things feel much more real. They have a child together and he's been internally battling with not being a father.

"What do you want to do?" Tris finally breaks their silence.

"I've got to try to be a dad. I didn't deserve to come back here. And honestly I didn't want to. I was completely prepared to not come home and I was more than willing to sacrifice myself for the guys in my squad. But for some reason I made it out alive. Beat to shit but alive. If I don't at least try to be a father I'm always going to feel like I didn't deserve to come back here."

"You want to be his dad?" Tris is partially hopeful, but also weary. Tobias left her with a baby and now he wants to be let in. She knew that he wasn't going to stay when she told him about the pregnancy. She accepted that. But she's worried he'll just leave Rory when things get too hard for him.

"I want whatever you're willing to give me."

"I'm not ready to tell him that you're his dad."

"That's fine."

"But you can start coming around more. Hang out with him a bit."

"You'd let me?"

"I know you're not going to hurt him. I trust you to take care of him," she smiles at Tobias, trying to reassure him.

"Thank you, Beatrice."

"Don't thank me yet. You don't know how much of a handful our baby is yet."

"I'm serious, thank you."

"Just don't leave him high and dry, okay?"

"I won't. I swear."

The two's food arrive and Tris grabs the ketchup on the table. She puts a pile of it next to her fries and starts eating.

She never thought she'd see this side of Tobias. It's different and she can see that he is no longer a teenage boy trying to find himself. He's a different person than he was; he's a man now. A man ready to own up to his mistakes and willing to right his wrongs.

"There is something else I want to tell you," Tobias looks at her.

"What?"

"I talked to Marcus the other day."

"You did?"

"I wanted to get something from my room."

"Okay?"

"He stopped me to talk before I could leave."

"And?"

"He knows."

"Knows what?" Tris is completely confused.

"He knows that Rory is mine."

Tris can feel her mouth fall open as she stares at Tobias. No one knows that Rory is Tobias' son. No one but them.

"How?"

"Told me he could see it since he was two."

"How did he know? He never saw me at your house."

"Apparently Rory looks like I did at that age. A spitting image according to Marcus, except for the blonde hair of course," Tobias grins, "He got that from you."

"Why has he never said anything?"

"I honestly don't know. It's pretty out of character for him. Maybe he didn't want to let the world in on our secret."

"Thank goodness he didn't tell my dad. He didn't tell my dad, right?"

"He didn't tell anyone."

"Okay," Tris sighs, "So your family all knows."

"My family?" Tobias chuckles, "Hard to consider my father and I a family."

"Shush, you know what I mean."

"I know. I'm not going to tell anyone about our past. It's not my place to let people know that Rory is mine. That is all up to you. You are his mother."

"Okay," she purses her lips, "Maybe one day I'll be ready to really let you in to our lives and I'll be ready to admit to the world that he's ours. But I'm not right now."

"I'm not asking you to be. Keep me at an arms length if you need to. Farther if you have to. I screwed up and you are the one in control of this situation, okay?"

"Okay," she smiles at him. Never in a million years did she expect to go out with such a mature Tobias Eaton.

Tobias' uneasy stomach is completely calmed. He never thought this conversation would go so smoothly, but it has. A part of him feels undeserving of this, but he's grateful for it. Things are going to be hard, he knows that. But they're on their way to being mended.

"Can I ask you something?" Tobias leans more towards Tris.

"Yeah."

"What was it like?"

"What?"

"Being pregnant and having a baby. Was your pregnancy easy or horrible? Did he cry a lot when he was little? I missed everything."

"You really want to know?" she asks and he nods. "Pregnancy sucked. Worst nine months of my life. I was never comfortable and always had the oddest cravings. I could eat a cheese sandwich every hour if Christina let me."

"A cheese sandwich?" his lips curve up.

"With mustard and pickles."

"That's disgusting," he chuckles.

"You're telling me! I ate the nastiest things and I always wanted to throw up. Spending a full day at school, forget about it. I ended up doing homeschooling. Christina would always bring me my work. I absolutely hated and I mean hated being pregnant. But getting ultrasounds and hearing his heartbeat, that made it worth it. To see him on the little screen. It was surreal."

"I can't even imagine."

"And feeling him move, it was creepy at first. Then I started getting used to it," she smiles. "As he got bigger you could actually see him moving. My stomach would move. Like I had some kind of alien inside of me. Then suddenly he was here. My horrible pregnancy ended and I had this baby sleeping on my chest. He was the cutest thing. You'd think he was going to be tiny."

"He was small?" Tobias asks, wanting to know everything there is to know.

"Just a little over six pounds. Part of me was hoping he'd stay small. But he put on weight like crazy and just kept getting taller. Totally takes after you. Before I knew it he was smiling. He didn't smile easily, unfortunately. Gets that from you too," she glares at him.

"I smile."

"Yeah, about as much as Rory does. But when he did smile, oh my gosh. You would've melted. Seeing his toothless grin was the cutest thing. He stole everyone's heart. I think he even stole Marcus' after he grinned at him."

"Marcus cares about him, huh?"

"Yeah he does. He's always been willing to help with things. At first I wasn't sure about it. I mean all I really knew of him was what I'd heard from you. But Rory took to him, must've known that he's his grandpa."

"I've missed so much," Tobias frowns.

"Yeah you have," Tris chews on her lip, "But you're here now. And that's what matters. I may not be totally ready for you to be here, but Rory is. Rory is ready to have a dad. Sure he doesn't know you're his dad, but one day he will."

Tobias replays the words Tris just said to him. She is willing to let him be a dad. He can be the dad he never had and he's going to try his damnedest to make things right. Tris is giving him a chance to be in Rory's life and that's more than he could've asked for.

* * *

_They're reconnecting guys. Sorry if there are any mistakes. _


End file.
